Many SCHS students and staff are given the option to use personal devices or school-provided Chromebooks. Within the debate of personal versus district devices, staff and students shared which device they prefer and how it serves them.
Senior Lucas Bates finds it beneficial to work on schoolwork from his personal computer.
“I feel more productive with the faster processing power and the better keyboard,” Bates said in an email.
Students are also allowed to use their personal laptops during school, but having this freedom leaves room for distraction. English teacher Paige Cruz uses a program known as Dyknow, allowing her to see their students’ screens. Despite this feature, the tool can only be used with students’ school chromebooks and is not accessible through personal devices.
“With students using their personal devices, I’m not able to see what they’re doing,” Cruz said.
For students, using their personal device many students feel less limited. Junior Presley Perez pointed out the convenience of personal computers.
“At least for Mac books, you can access things like text messages,” Perez said. “So technically they are a distraction, but I don’t think it should be a big enough thing to get rid of them.”
Despite certain restrictions on personal devices, Bates argued that students’ focus stems from their personal decisions rather than just their access to a device.
“I believe distraction depends on the student and not on the device,” Bates said in an email.
English teacher Courtney Hayes prefers working on her school computer due to its compatibility with the campus services.
“The Wi-Fi is a little bit better on the staff network,” Hayes said. “I can print to the English department printer on my computer.”
“Using a computer is probably the most productive form of technology that a student can use, even if they are so diverse,” Hayes said.
In spite of the advantages and disadvantages of both school-issued and personal computers, Hayes emphasized the importance of resources available to students.
“To me, having a device is more important than having it be a school-issued device,” Hayes said. “I don’t know what the student has for other classes or what their technology needs are.”